Thanks again everyone for the kind reviews. I still find it a bit weird that people on the other side of the world are reading my stuff! Meliaka, you're sweltering while I'm freezing – a good reason to stay inside and write.

Hey Nans, thanks for the suggestion. I actually had that in there but when I checked out an episode to find out what was written on the uniforms I found that the Captain was the only one that didn't have a name or rank on his uniform. Strange huh? But it plays into my story so I'm happy! So he'll still be "the man" until he gets a name. But I did say in Chapter 1 that his sleeve was dark blue and they were actually black, so one right, one wrong.

OK I found Lucas for you – I just wasn't sure where I left him for a while.

Chapter Four

Ford rubbed his hand over his eyes, trying to rub off some of the fatigue he was feeling. Nobody had slept in what seemed like weeks and it was beginning to take its toll on all of them.

The damage to the seaQuest had been much worse than they first realised. The engineering team had been hard at work trying to get them moving again. The rudder was almost completely destroyed and the propulsion system was a total mess.

The sub was still at least five hours away from being operational according to Hitchcock's estimates. It had taken hours to drain the flooded compartments but at least the bio skin was regenerating well.

Since the seaQuest wasn't going anywhere Ford had ordered a shuttle be sent out to the location of the emergency beacon. The only good news so far was that the shuttle's beacon was coming from further away from the epicentre than the seaQuest. Lieutenant Krieg and Chief Crocker had volunteered and they had taken Doctor Westphalen and another medic with them.

Nearly three hours after leaving, Krieg had reported in with grim news. They had located the shuttle but it was severely damaged and lying on the seafloor. The hatch was open and it was full of water. For some unknown reason a rope was tied onto the hatch door.

Ben needed to draw on all his reserves of optimism when he told the others that this was a good thing. Lucas and the captain weren't in there so they must have made it out on the surface before it sank.

Right?

So now they just needed to find the life raft and everything would be just fine. He had to keep telling himself that because he refused to believe the alternative.

After checking in with the seaQuest Ben had taken the shuttle up to the surface. It was still dark as dawn was at least four hours away. For some illogical reason he had presumed the raft would be floating there on the surface, with Lucas and Bridger just waiting to be found.

All the wishful thinking in the world didn't make it so and Commander Ford had recalled the shuttle, despite Ben's protests that they needed to keep looking.

"Lieutenant, you can't search in the dark. You have no idea which way the currents are running up there. The quake has thrown things off kilter and the raft could be anywhere. Get back here and I'll have Ortiz start the calculations to give you a proper search grid. Otherwise you're just looking for a needle in a haystack."

Krieg knew that he was right but he couldn't help feeling a burst of anger towards his commanding officer. He didn't have time to waste heading back to the seaQuest when Lucas and Bridger were still out there somewhere.

"It'll be all right, Ben," Crocker tried to reassure him. "The Nathan Bridger I know is too stubborn to die out here … and young Lucas has probably built a new shuttle out of driftwood by now!"

Ben had to smile in spite of himself. Yeah, that sounded just like Lucas.

Lucas was freezing. His hands had lost all sensation hours ago but he knew if he let go he would die. He didn't have the strength to swim any further and in the dark he had no idea where he could swim to anyway.

He didn't know how long it was since he had last seen Bridger and despair threatened to overwhelm him. Maybe just letting go wasn't such a bad idea. Did he really want to go on if he had lost the one person he counted on most? Lucas couldn't stop himself as he began to go back over events in his mind.

After fighting so hard to get himself and the captain into the raft he was exhausted. Bridger was still unconscious in spite of the huge waves that were rocking the raft.

Panic began to rise but he refused to allow the frightening thoughts to gain a hold. There was nothing more for him to do but wait and he didn't want to be kept company by those kinds of thoughts.

He realised just how cold he was and he pushed himself up against Bridger's body to try to warm them both up. It didn't help much as they were both drenched but he felt himself begin to relax a little. They had made it out alive and soon the seaQuest would come looking for them when they didn't arrive on time. All they had to do was wait it out until the cavalry arrived.

Gradually the giant waves began to subside and Lucas allowed himself to close his eyes for the first time. All he wanted was a hot shower and one very large coffee. A donut wouldn't be too bad either.

Not one of those pretend ones you got in the mess but a real one like the ones Ben got last month. Special delivery … something about connections … hmmm …

The rocking motion of the raft combined with his physical exhaustion and it didn't take long before Lucas was asleep. In the dark the small raft drifted along on its own meandering path.

He awoke with a start, taking a moment for his senses to register that he was in the water again. From what he could see in the moonlight the raft was deflating! They must have hit something. He could make out white foam around him. Rocks!

"Captain! Where are you?" he called desperately. He floundered in the freezing water as he tried frantically to get back to the raft but he was being washed onto the nearby rocks instead.

"Captain!" He couldn't see any sign of Bridger and he hoped that his life jacket was still holding firm. A sudden surge of water around him slammed him into the jagged rock and he screamed in pain. He felt himself being sucked under and fought against it by kicking off from the rock.

Lucas came up spitting out salt water. He felt his chest tighten as his body reflexes took over and he started to cough. He didn't have time to take a deep breath before the water surged again and he was pulled under the surface a second time. It seemed like forever before he managed to get his head above water again and the whole coughing fit started over.

As he felt the water begin to surge a third time he reacted on instinct and grabbed hold of the nearest rock. He felt the water slam him into the rock face but at least he didn't go under this time.

Ben was relieved to hear that the seaQuest was underway and heading towards their position. Repairs were still going on but enough had been done to get them operating with nearly seventy percent power.

The trip back had been very quiet as they were each absorbed in their own thoughts and worries. Even the normally mile-a-minute Krieg couldn't find much to say.

Before he could stop the words coming out of his mouth he had asked Doctor Westphalen how long they could survive in the water. He really didn't like the answer he had gotten back so he shut up after that. No more stupid questions with unsettling answers.

After docking the shuttle the search party reported to the bridge. While they were gone Ortiz and O'Neill had been busy running computer simulations to make an educated guess about where a life raft could have drifted to in the given timeframe.

"Commander, that shuttle was pretty beat up but I know they got out."

"That's what we all want to believe, Lieutenant but what makes you so sure?"

"Well the rope on the shuttle door for starters. One of them had to have tied it there and that's not something they would have done underwater."

Krieg wasn't anywhere near as confident as he sounded but one thing he had learned in his role as the morale officer was that sometimes you just had to bluff your way through.

Ford recognised it for what it was but he felt grateful that his officer was helping to hold them all together. Fatigue showed on all their faces but now there was a new resolve as well.

"Mr Ortiz, we need that search grid. We'll be in the search area in twenty five minutes."

"Aye, Sir. Almost done but I'm afraid given the variables it's a rather large area."

"Understood. Assign co-ordinates to each of the shuttles and feed it through to them when you're done. The shuttle crews are waiting in the docking bay."

Kreig stepped up beside the commander. "Ah, Sir? My team is ready to head back out too."

"Ben, you need a break. When was the last time you slept?"

"Probably the same time you did, Sir. I can't just sit here waiting while Lucas and Bridger are still out there." Crocker was standing behind him and the two doctors had moved up to stand with them as well.

Ford looked at the faces before him and knew it was pointless to argue. He knew how badly they wanted to be out there because he felt exactly the same way.